24/11: No support for Hindraf rally from MIC, 25 NGOs

By K. Harinderan
New Straits Times

Twenty-five Indian non-governmental organisations here deny that they will support the Hindu Rights Action Force (Hindraf) rally tomorrow.

Federal Territory MIC chairman and national information chief Datuk M. Saravanan said: "Hindraf's claims are baseless and the Indians here will not support the gathering.

"As Malaysians, we have lived in peace and street protests are not a part of our culture.

"I urge the parties to discuss and resolve the matter. History has shown that demonstrations always end in violence."

Saravanan was speaking yesterday at a press conference convened by the MIC and the NGOs, which claim to represent 500,000 Indians in the Klang Valley.

Malaysian Associated Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry vice-president for Kuala Lumpur and Selangor, Ramesh Kodammal, said demonstrations would affect the business community and, on a greater scale, the image of the country.

Malaysian Punjabi Chambers of Commerce and Industries president Datuk Daljit Singh Dalliwal said: "Our message is clear, we support the Barisan Nasional government and do not support any element that goes against the peace and economic viability of the country."

The Hindraf rally outside the British High Commission is in support of a class-action suit against the British government for bringing Indians to Malaya as indentured workers, for exploiting them for 150 years, and for failing to protect their rights as a minority in the Federal Constitution when independence was granted.

The group is seeking STG4 trillion (RM27.7 trillion) in damages in a suit filed in Britain on Aug 30. They plan to petition Queen Elizabeth II for a Queen's Counsel to argue their case.